A federal judge has overturned the double-murder conviction of a condemned prisoner because the prosecution disqualified the only black person in the jury pool.
The case involves Steven E. Crittenden, an African-American now aged 46 who has spent the last 24 years on San Quentin’s Death Row.
His conviction and sentence was overturned in November by U.S. District Judge Kimberley J. Mueller. It was alleged that then student athlete Crittenden had robbed and murdered Dr. William Chaipella and his wife, Katherine.
The judge faulted the prosecutor’s dismissal of the only African-American in the jury pool. The question of race shadowed the case even before Crittenden’s conviction by a Placer County jury. Prosecutor Gerald E. Flanagan used a preemptory challenge to remove the only African-American on the 50-person jury pool.
During Crittenden’s appeal, Flanagan testified he had no recollection of the circumstances which led to the challenge. Now retired trial Judge James D. Garbolino and U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows said they were satisfied Flanagan acted more out of concern for the woman’s negative feelings about the death penalty than the color of her skin.
Willie Hyman, head of the Butte Community Coalition, a group that tracks racism, calls the Chico area “the Mississippi of Northern California.” He also insists that Crittenden is not guilty. “It’s the way black people in the county were treated, because the Caucasian family that was murdered was very well known and loved people,” Hyman also stated.
